A Place With Room to Grow

A decade ago, Brad Archer was sent to England for work. There, he met his husband-to-be, a colleague named Ross Haynes.

The two rented a two-bedroom flat in Crouch End, North London, until Mr. Haynes was offered a job in New York. Then, nearly four years ago, they moved into a large one-bedroom rental on Riverside Drive, paying in the low $3,000s a month.

When they married three years ago and took the surname Archer-Haynes, their plans included adopting a child or two, so they knew more space would be required. Friends urged them to simply section off the dining room and use that as a bedroom.

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The couple’s house has a spacious dining room.CreditLaura Moss for The New York Times

“We saw friends making huge sacrifices to stay in Manhattan,” said Brad, 38, who works in marketing for Viacom International. (Ross, 32, works in retail marketing for Nickelodeon.)

But they wanted not just a second bedroom, but a third, to accommodate Ross’s parents on extended visits from their home in Dorset, England. Even if they spent $1 million, though, the couple knew their options would be limited in the city. So nearly two years ago, they began to consider the suburbs, where they discovered they could get at least three bedrooms for around $700,000.

The couple read about Suburban Jungle, a free service that advises city dwellers making the switch to the suburbs. The service seemed ideal “for people like us who don’t know where to go,” said Brad, who is from the Hudson Valley.

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Bedrooms were high on the wish list and their home has four.CreditLaura Moss for The New York Times

Suburban Jungle suggested a few towns in New Jersey, and the couple settled on Maplewood. They noticed that Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church displayed a gay pride banner, “and that meant something to us,” Brad said.

Maplewood also had a lively downtown and was filled with charming houses that “are slightly larger than a starter home without being too large,” said Amy Owens, the agent at Keller Williams in Montclair with whom Suburban Jungle matched them. The relatively small yards were appealing as well.

But they wanted to be within walking distance of the New Jersey Transit station, and “that was a big ask,” Brad said.

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The house, with a detached garage, is within a 10-minute walk of a train station.CreditLaura Moss for The New York Times

When they realized that property taxes for the homes they were looking at were generally around $15,000 a year, they lowered their target price, dropping into the $600,000s. And at that price point, sellers had the upper hand, Ms. Owens said, with most properties snapped up in a matter of days.

Early on, the couple saw a modestly sized house they liked with three bedrooms, listed at $549,000, but they decided to hold out for something bigger. They were confounded when it sold quickly, for $623,000.

Then they saw a lovely center-hall colonial with an asking price of $629,000. They offered $660,000, but it sold for $720,000.

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Before they found the house they ultimately bought, the couple lost a bidding war on a center-hall colonial with a large kitchen they particularly admired.CreditLaura Moss for The New York Times

“We clearly had no idea what was going on,” Brad said.

Listing prices seemed to have little meaning, with houses being bid up by tens of thousands of dollars. “A house would go on the market on a Thursday, and by Monday they were going with 10 offers,” Brad said. “It created a lot of stress.”

Later, the couple saw another center-hall colonial they liked, with an attic that had been turned into a master suite. But it was listed for $719,000 — more than they wanted to spend — so they bid less than the asking price. When it sold for $730,000, they were both frustrated and relieved.

Last summer, a listing for a side-hall colonial appeared for $639,000. It had four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a detached garage. And it was a 10-minute walk from the train station, which made the house even more appealing, although by then they had discovered that the town has what the couple call an “adult school bus” — a jitney that runs to and from the station.

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Another center-hall colonial, this one with a master suite in the attic, also got away.CreditLaura Moss for The New York Times

There were several offers, Ms. Owens said, but theirs was the highest, at $687,000.

Their first thought was “Have we actually just done this after two years?” Ross said. “It was a scary moment, but we loved the house.”

They arrived in the fall with their Boston terrier, Olive, still wondering whether they had paid too much or gotten a great deal.

In the beginning, the house seemed too large. “It was weird, having to go downstairs for your coffee before you went back upstairs,” Brad said.

They acquired not just a car, but a snowblower, and New Jersey driver’s licenses as well. They joined relevant Facebook groups, including SOMa lounge (for residents of Maplewood and neighboring South Orange, which share a school district) and another group for local adoptive families.

Then, one cold day they arrived home to hear water gurgling in the basement. A dishwasher pipe had burst.

“Nobody tells you about the bad stuff,” Brad said. “How could I make it to 38 years old and be so ill-equipped to live in a house? Our life used to be so simple and straightforward.” They shut off the water, contacted their insurance company and hired a plumber.

As they expected, the town is a good fit. Mr. Ross has even found British treats for sale at a nearby store, the Wine Barrel, “so I can get my fill of digestive biscuits,” he said.

And while they are still furnishing their home, they can envision children there. “We can actually have a family here and not feel constrained,” Brad said. “I can see our future happening.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page RE6 of the New York edition with the headline: A Boston Terrier Called Olive for Now, but Children Later. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe